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darkness and beauty of stars: love songs for mixed chorus and wind ensemble

This composition, ""darkness and beauty of stars"" is a setting of seven poems of e.e. cummings for mixed chorus and wind ensemble. The poems draw from a collection of eleven, entitled ""Amores"" originally published in cummings' 1923 book Tulips & Chimneys. I set the first six in complete form, while the seventh is presented with some stanzas omitted. I elected not to set poems eight through eleven. The title, darkness and beauty of stars, is drawn from the seventh poem, ""if i believe"" and is evocative of the dual themes of the work - love and death. ❧ The piece is divided into three movements, each containing two or three poems that connect without interruption (I - ""your little voice"" ""in the rain-"" ""there is a"" / II - ""consider O"" as is the sea marvelous"" / III - ""into the smiting"" ""if i believe""). There is a great deal of interconnected musical material between the movements, the most prominent being the brass motive heard at the piece's opening, which is echoed throughout the work. ❧ The composition is scored for a medium- to large-sized mixed chorus and a wind ensemble featuring little doubling of parts (only the flutes and clarinets play as sections). The ensemble is standard, with the two noteworthy members being the contra-alto clarinet in Eb and the piano.

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